This study examined the impact of a week-long professional development (PD) institute teaching project-based learning (PBL) on teachers' ability to teach 21st century skills. Teachers who received extensive PBL PD and implemented PBL reported teaching 21st century skills like critical thinking, collaboration, and communication more frequently than teachers without PBL training. The study provides strong measures of assessing 21st century skills and found PBL with PD can impact skills development for both low- and high-achieving students. Future research should control for variables like teachers' professional engagement that could influence results.

1. Using project based learning to teach
21st century skills: Findings from a
statewide initiative
Jason Ravitz
Buck Institute for Education
Nate Hixson
West Virginia Department of Education
Mary English
George Mason University
John Mergendoller
Buck Institute for Education

2. Abstract
At the end of the 2010-2011 school year, data on
teaching practices and perceptions were systematically
gathered and compared from two groups of teachers
matched by demographics, grade and subject: teachers
expected to have utilized PBL after extended
professional development (44) and teachers who had
not received the professional development or not
expected to have used PBL (42). Teachers who used
PBL and received extensive professional development
reported more teaching and assessment of 21st century
skills overall, with similar patterns seen within subjects
and for all of the measured skills.

3. Purpose
• To determine the impact of a weeklong
summer professional development institute
(PD) to help teachers develop effective PBL
lessons emphasizing student development of
21st century skills.
• To determine the effect of project based
learning (PBL) professional development and
implementation on teachers’ perceived ability
to teach and assess 21st century skills.

4. Research Questions
• Do teachers who have used PBL with extensive
professional development teach and assess 21st
century skills to a greater extent than teachers who
have not had similar professional development or do
not use PBL?
• How is PBL use and teaching of 21st century skills
influenced by other variables -- such as subject and
grade, class achievement level, block
scheduling, etc.?

5. Setting
• West Virginia, a rural, relatively poor state is
striving to transform its school population into
21st century teachers and learners.
• The department of education is attempting to
scale up teaching reforms at a statewide level.
• Project-based learning is one feature of the
initiative.

6. Project-based learning (PBL)
• Projects allow for some degree of student
voice and choice
• Projects should be carefully
planned, managed, and assessed
• Projects should connect rigorous academic
content to 21st Century Skills
(Mergendoller, Markham, Ravitz&Larmer, 200
6).

7. 21st Century Skills (21CS)
• Critical Thinking – Analyze complex problems, investigate questions for which there are no
clear-cut answers, evaluate different points of view or sources of information, and draw
appropriate conclusions based on evidence and reasoning.
• Collaboration – Work together to solve problems or answer questions, to work effectively
and respectfully in teams to accomplish a common goal and to assume shared responsibility
for completing a task.
• Communication – Organize their thoughts, data and findings and share these effectively
through a variety of media, as well as orally and in writing.
• Creativity and Innovation –Generate and refine solutions to complex problems or tasks
based on synthesis, analysis and then combining or presenting what they have learned in
new and original ways.
• Self-direction – Take responsibility for their learning by identifying topics to pursue and
processes for their own learning, and being able to review their own work and respond to
feedback.
• Global Connections – Understand global, geo-political issues including awareness of
geography, culture, language, history, and literature from other countries.
• Local Connections - Apply what they have learned to local contexts and community issues.
• Using technology as a tool for learning – Manage their learning and produce products
using appropriate information and communication technologies.

8. Methods
• Quasi-experimental
• PBL users with extended PD and a comparison
group
• Systematic selection and verification of PBL
users
– In collaboration with the state Office of Instruction
(OI)
– Survey of 600+ PBL workshop attendees conducted
over two consecutive summers
– 60 identified as strong PBL users

9. Participants
• Strong PBL users
– Math, social studies, science, or English in grades
4 - 11
– Successfully published a project in the state’s
peer-reviewed project library
– Had used PBL for at least a year
– Seemed likely to continue using PBL as a
substantial part of their academic teaching
• Comparison group (Matched on
demographics, grade, and subject taught)

10. Survey
• Background information
• Verification of eligibility
• Target course for responding to questions
• Frequency of practices for teaching 21CS
– Almost never; a few times a semester; 1-3 times
per month; 1-3 times per week; almost daily
• Perceptions of having taught and assessed
21CS
– Not really; to a minor extent; to a moderate
extent; to a great extent; to a very great extent

11. Results
• Responses
– Overall response rate 72%
• 38 of 44 PBL teachers (86%)
• 24 of 42 Matched teachers (57%)
• Prior to analysis, 3 categories of PBL use were
identified:
– No PBL
– PBL with limited professional development
– PBL with extended professional development
• PBL teachers with extended PD reported more
teaching and assessment of 21CS (Tables 1 & 2)

14. Conclusions
• PBL use with professional development can have an
impact on 21st century skills teaching and learning
– for both low and high performing classrooms
• All 21st century skills were strongly associated with PBL
use and professional development (Effect Sizes > .85)
– except Global connection skills which were limited to
social studies teachers
• Strong measures of 21st Century Skills (8 indices with
alpha > .90, largely supported by factor
analysis), combining items from several major studies

15. Discussion
• All teachers in the PBL with extended PD group
indicated that they helped provide PD to other
teachers (compared with 33% of the PBL with
limited PD group), illustrating the importance of
professionally engaged teachers in reforms.
• Future studies should ensure that teachers with
extremely strong professional engagement are
not overrepresented by using probability
sampling or controlling for this variable.

16. More Information
Jason Ravitz
Buck Institute for Education
415-883-0122 x 310
jason@bie.org
http://www.bie.org/research
Nate Hixson
West Virginia Dept. of Education
304-558-2546
nhixson@access.k12.wv.us
http://wvde.state.wv.us/teach21/pbl.html